Al Green - Al Green: Soul Legend '2022

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Take Your Time (Radio Edit)
02. Standing In The Rain
03. Stay With Me (By The Sea)
04. All I Need
05. Too Much
06. Wanna Say
07. You've Got The Love I Need
08. What More Do You Want From Me
09. Lay It Down
10. Take Your Time


 moreGreen was born in Forrest City, Arkansas, where he formed a gospel
quartet, the Green Brothers, at the age of nine. They toured throughout the
South in the mid-'50s, before the family relocated to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Green Brothers continued to perform in Grand Rapids, but Al's father kicked
the boy out of the group after he caught his son listening to Jackie Wilson. At
the age of 16, Al formed an R&B group, Al Green & the Creations, with several of
his high-school friends. Two Creation members, Curtis Rogers and Palmer James,
founded their own independent record company, Hot Line Music Journal, and had
the group record for the label. By that time, the Creations had been re-named
the Soul Mates. The group's first single, "Back Up Train," became a surprise
hit, climbing to number five on the R&B charts early in 1968. The Soul Mates
attempted to record another hit, but all of their subsequent singles failed to
find an audience.

In 1969, Al Green met bandleader and Hi Records vice president Willie Mitchell
while on tour in Midland, Texas. Impressed with Green's voice, he signed the
singer to Hi Records, and began collaborating with Al on his debut album.
Released in early 1970, Green's debut album, Green Is Blues, showcased the
signature sound he and Mitchell devised -- a sinewy, sexy groove highlighted by
horn punctuations and string beds that let Green showcase his remarkable
falsetto. While the album didn't spawn any hit singles, it was well-received and
set the stage for the breakthrough success of his second album. Al Green Gets
Next to You (1970) launched his first hit single, "Tired of Being Alone," which
began a streak of four straight gold singles. Let's Stay Together (1972) was his
first genuine hit album, climbing to number eight on the pop charts; its title
track became his first number one single. I'm Still in Love with You, which
followed only a few months later, was an even greater success, peaking at number
four and launching the hits "Look What You Done for Me" and "I'm Still in Love
with You."

By the release of 1973's Call Me, Green was known as both a hitmaker and an
artist who released consistently engaging, frequently excellent,
critically-acclaimed albums. His hits continued uninterrupted through the next
two years, with "Call Me," "Here I Am," and "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" all
becoming Top Ten gold singles. At the height of his popularity, Green's former
girlfriend, Mrs. Mary Woodson, broke into his Memphis home in October 1974 and
poured boiling grits on the singer as he was bathing, inflicting second-degree
burns on his back, stomach, and arm; after assaulting Green, she killed herself
with his gun. Green interpreted the violent incident as a sign from God that he
should enter the ministry. By 1976, he had bought a church in Memphis and had
become an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle. Though he had begun to
seriously pursue religion, he had not given up singing R&B and he released three
other Mitchell-produced albums -- Al Green Is Love (1975), Full of Fire (1976),
Have a Good Time (1976) -- after the incident. However, his albums began to
sound formulaic, and his sales started to slip by the end of 1976, with disco
cutting heavily into his audience.

In order to break free from his slump, Green stopped working with Willie
Mitchell in 1977 and built his own studio, American Music, where he intended to
produce his own records. The first album he made at American Music was The Belle
Album, an intimate record that was critically acclaimed but failed to win a
crossover audience. Truth and Time (1978) failed to even generate a major R&B
hit. During a concert in Cincinnati in 1979, Green fell off the stage and nearly
injured himself seriously. Interpreting the accident as a sign from God, Green
retired from performing secular music and devoted himself to preaching.
Throughout the '80s, he released a series of gospel albums on Myrrh Records. In
1982, Green appeared in the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
with Patti Labelle. In 1985, he reunited with Willie Mitchell for He Is the
Light, his first album for A&M Records.

Green tentatively returned to R&B in 1988 when he sang "Put a Little Love in
Your Heart" with Annie Lennox for the Bill Murray comedy Scrooged. Four years
later, he recorded his first full-fledged soul album since 1978 with the
U.K.-only Don't Look Back. Al Green was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
in 1995. That same year, he released Your Heart's in Good Hands, an urban
contemporary record that represented his first secular album to be released in
America since Truth and Time. Though the album received positive reviews, it
failed to become a hit. Green did achieve widespread recognition eight years
later with his first album for Blue Note, I Can't Stop. One and a half years
later, he followed it with Everything's OK. His third Blue Note album, 2008's
Lay It Down, featured an updated sound that still echoed the feel of his classic
earlier soul style. It became his first Top Ten album since his 1970s heyday.

Green stepped away from the studio after Lay It Down, but not the stage. He
toured and continued to hold sermons into the 2020s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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